VISUAL RESEARCH
1969- 1979 SECONDARY RESEARCH
Ayushi Agarwal Kavisha Dalal Shubhangi Chaudhary Tanvi Bhakhar
FASHION AND MAKEUP Everything during this time period was flamboyant.Bollywood was a very huge source of the trend setting of fashion and makeup. It was during this time that there was experimentation in fashion. Ritu Kumar was one of the few designers during this time to start reviving the traditional Indian art. Women unlike earlier times, now had the freedom to choose their preferances.
Left: Linoleum ad of 1979 Middle and Right: An excerpt from “ Seeta aur Geeta “- 1972
Left: ad from 1979 Middle and Right: an excerpt from “Eh phool do mali”- 1969
As we can see the blouses during this decade became deeper andsleeveles. Sarees were worn more in a body hugging form. The makeup was more on- face with colorful eye- shadows and bright blush. The lipsticks back then were very glossy and also a little bit of metallic. The winged eyeliner was a added exageration to the overal makeup. Bindi was a huge accessory that added to the overall look. The accessories during this time were pearls, chokers and a lot of bling.
Bobby print ( polka dots) was a very big hit and the knotting of shirts.
An excerpt from “ Bobby� 1973
As seen here in this advertisement. Bikins started to appear in the ads as well as in the movies.
Advertisement from 1979
The sleeves were exagerated with balloon sleeves. Turtle necks were seen a lot back then.
Advertisement from 1979
Patterns were visible a lot in the clothing with the same balloon sleeves.
An old Advertisement of Lakme of 1972
In Men too turtle necks were very common. Also shirts worn with open bottons to flaunt their chest hair.
Left: Advertisement of 1975 Right: Advertisement of nutmate
CULTURAL CONNOTATION
Campa Cola was a popular cola drink launched by an Indian company in the 1970s as an alternative to Coca-Cola which was driven out of India by the Janata Party Govt under Morarji Desai.
Highly controversial ad with religious overtones sponsored by Government of India in 1979. This advertisement had not gone down well with minority communities who had felt that the non-Congress Government headed by Morarji Desai (in coalition with right wing parties led by LK Advani, Subramanian Swamy etc) was insensitive towards minorities.
1973 Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s daughter-in-law Maneka Gandhi (Menaka Gandhi) was a fashion model who had appeared in bathing towel ads, which were considered a taboo those days. After Menaka promised to give up her modelling career, the Gandhi family were not ready to accept her. They suspected her intentions and thought true to her name, she was like a “Menaka” (celestial nymph as per hindu mythology), trying to lure Sanjay and sneak her way into the most powerful political family of India. Finally, after lot of persuasion from Sanjay, Indira agreed on the condition that Menaka had to change her name to Maneka and the marriage was finalized.
1972 Usha sewing machine Advertisement; train her to be an ideal housewife, as the status of women in India has been subject to many changes over the span of recorded Indian history. Feminist activism in India gained momentum in the late 1970s.
Highly controversial ad by Godjrej in 1972. Protesters burnt down posters demanding its ban. This ad, although controversial among conservatives, did not affect the brand
1970 advertisement of flight ticket to Bombay for Rs 217.
1976 VIP ad comparing luggage to feminine curves.
Thums Up ad from 1978 The phrase “Happy Days� was a subtle hint to happiness due to freedom during post-emergency era and exit of foreign brand soft drink (Coca Cola).
007 James Bond craze among children in 1979.
1975 ad of Wills Flake witnessed intense protests by feminists since the print advertisement had objectified women as cigarette lighters for men.
while most of the organizations & institutions were under the belief that Algebra was developed by Arabs (who presented it as “al-jabr” which became “algebra”), IBM was one of the few organizations which had acknowledged the fact that it was India which gave Algebra to the world, and had proudly paid tribute to Indian mathematicians.
A hoarding by Amul on Sanjay Gandhi’s sterilisation programme during the emergency era.
1975: Emergency Outdoor Billboards. refers to a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared across the country. ... The order bestowed upon the Prime Minister the authority to rule by decree, allowing elections to be suspended and civil liberties to be curbed.
MENTALITY OF PEOPLE Mentality of people changes over time. At that time lot of superstitions were there and mostly everyone believed and followed. At that time, festivals were seen as the major celebration of the year and everyone got new clothes on the festivals only.So there are so many things that changes over time. This is the visual from the bollywood movie Seeta aur Geeta which was released in that era. it shows that mother-in-law rules over the daughter-in-law and was so strict that they have to take permissions for everything. My grandmother told me that her mother-in-law was very very strict that if they want to wear some jewelry then they had to ask and get it from her.because she had all the jewelry of all her daughter-in-laws. This was the advertisement of Usha which said that “Train her to be an ideal housewife”. It explains the value of women at that time. They are not allowed to work outside. My grandmother told me that when she gets married, the ideal housewife had to know all the househoold stuff and also must be perfect in embroideries and stitching and she showed me lot of her embroidery works, also she said that ki “Abhi to koi kuch bhi kar skta hai, pehle to hum awaz sunn ke darr jate the”.
This is the visual of one of the 1969 bollywood movie which shows that how women hide her face in a veil even from their husbands also. This shows that how many boundations were there on women at that time. She can’t get comfortable even with her husband. This is the visual of bollywood movie Bhai ho to aisa (1972). it depicts that how much love was there in joint families, which is not seen in today’s world. My grandfather told me “ Pehle parivaar mai pyaar hota tha, festivals bhi lagte the ki festivals hai but abhi sab akele akele rehne lage hai”. This is the visual of Bollywood movie ‘Bachpan’ (1970), it depicts that teachers were very strict at that time. My father told me that when he was a kid, he scared from his teachers more than his father. This is what changes over time.
HAIRSTYLES Bollywood stars have always created a classical style especially hairstyles which are loved by people and they also try to make same hairstyle as they do. At that time those hairstyle became stylish hairstyle for people. The sadhana cut was introduced by the famous gorgeous actress “Sadhana”. She worked in many movies with this hairstyle like “waqt, Mera saya, ek musafir…” and this hairstyle is carried till now in Bollywood as we have seen Kangana Ranaut and many more Actresses who are still following this hairstyle.
This hairstyle include bun on head and it is the most famous hairstyle which carried by Reena Roy, Rakhee, and Mumtaaz. This hairstyle came from 70s movie and till now this hairstyle is continued.
Quiff is a classic vintage hairstyle which was started by Dev Anand and Shammi kapoor. This hairstyle came from Dev Anand famous movie like “Guide, Jewel Theif, and Hare Rama Hare Krishna” and Shammi Kapoor movies like “Junglee, Kashmir ki Kali, Tesri Manzil”. One of the most popular hairstyle started from Bollywood is braiding your hair. During 70s and 80s Rekha, Jaya prada, and Sri Devi worked in many in movies with this hairstyle. We will see this till now in school students and in traditional festivals. Also called as a “Bhartiya Nari” hairstyle. In 70’s Mr. Amitabh bachchan came with a new hairstyle long hair with middle partition in “Don, coolie, deewar and in many more movies”. After these movies hairstyle of Amitabh became very famous in young generation of 70s and 80s which gave them a look of Angry Young Men.
ADVERTISEMENTS The early 1960’s to 1980’s emerged in large part as a reation to the first and stressed creativity and an Indian professional identity independent of Great Britain. 1970’s saw the media bloom at a different extent.
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The Decade Advertising became more scientific as National readership Survey (NRS) happened and MBA’s from business schools were hired for client servicing roles. A lot of text was put in the print advertising, trying to answer all the consumer’s questions. Mostly women were chosen as the protagonist to convince the consumers. Indian society has undergone a dramatic shift in social values. With more income and more purchasing power, the status-conscious Indian middle class now seek to buy good quality consumer products .
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UTILITY
This advertisement of the floor covering depicts the style of the era. Prints were in fashion. The television behind adds a character. A vase with roses is on the table.
Sheer embroidered curtains were trending.The carpet has a triangular design with warm colors.
The intricate wooden jaali work was very famous and was used frequently. Printed curtainsa are used.The lamp shades have a umbrella kindof covering with tassels.The cutlery has minimal floral designs.
The doors had a pastel finish with printed curtains. Alot of photoframes were placed accrossed the house. The cutlery has a british essence with printed saucers.
Net furniture is used here in a middle class household. The wooden showcase behind ahs many statues.Printed sofa cushions are used.
PRIMARY RESEACRCH
LOCATION: Ahmedabad, Gujarat Gujarati Family
An old photo of this era. The bindis were worn much higher to the eye brow line and the female is wearing balis with pearls and suits were very common among the males.
The bride is wearing panitar, a traditional type of gujarati saree worn during the wedding. The females have heavy kohl around their eyes,.Girls are seen wearing dresses with front short flap.
In Gujarati weddings, During the wedding ceremonies the bride has to wear a Ghatdi( chundari) generally embroidered with zari and a modh (tiara) Glass bangles were very popular.
Sosyo was a drink very popular during that time. This is a picture of reception that generally happens after the wedding takes place. It is organised by the grooms side to introduce their daughter -in -law to the family members Shirts back then were very printed
A wedding that took place in 1979 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan on 8th February. Marwari Family
The bride’s mother welcomes the groom when he is on the horse. She carries “sammela” which is silver kalash on her head and then the groom puts money in it.
The mother-in-law then performs puja, puts tilak and applies kajal to the groom so that he doesn’t catch evil eyes.Then the mother-in-law has to pull his nose to depict that he will always be obidient towards her and respect her.
The groom enters the venue with his jijas, who are supposed to be with him throughout the wedding. Almost all men’s are spotted wearing suits. On the righ of the groom,the man is wearing huge black sunglasses,which were considered fashionable.
When the groom finally reaches the stage, the bride enters with her two sisters who carry flowers with them.The bride comes showering flowers with both are hands to welcome the groom.The bride wears lehenga for reception.
After the reception, the bride changes into a simple bandhani saree which is given to her by groom’s family.The groom is given two maur’s(an accessory for head) when he leaves the house and then he has to give one of them to the bride.
Once the wedding is over the groom has to pull down one end of the chawri(mandap) to showcase that the wedding is now performed. The bride had to carry a long veil to cover her face during the wedding that time.
Then the vidaai (groom taking bride to their new home after the wedding) takes place. The young girls aroung them are dressed in frocks, shirts and bootcut pants which were a fashionable trend back then.
After reaching home, alot of welcome games are played. One of them is removing the 5 or 7 knots of kakad doora which is tied during the wedding festivities to both on hand & legs. Both are supposed to open each other’s knots.
LOCATION: Jasoi, UttarPradesh Jaat Family This is the embroided painting done by my grandmother before her marriage and she was married in 1972. She loves to do embroidery and stuff. This black bag is also emroided by her. These are the brass utensils of that era, everyone eat in these utensils only because it was said that it’s healthy to eat in this metal. Also this smallest plate in the visual is called kasa, it was used for some wedding ritual in that era.
These are the visuals of Wedding ring and anklets of my grandmother. The design and the heaviness of these payal and ring was really unique as today people want everything light even in jewelry but at that time, they wear heavy jewelry daily while working.
These are the visuals of sewing machine and table fan of Usha of that era which is still there with my grandparents. Also they both were very very heavy and if we see today’s products of Usha, it had a great difference.
Ceiling was made from wooden planks of Sheesham tree and it is still in good condition at my dadi’s home. Lamps were called ‘Lalten’ and it was used by using kerosene oil. These are called the ‘sandook’ which they used to store their clothes and stuff, my grandparents still uses them.
This is the wooden stick(Laathi), which is more than 100 years old. My great grandfather used it and i got to know that it was used by Gandhiji also. So my whole family tie kalava to it and pray it during Govardhan puja, and it’s a ritual which they are following since years.
These are the visuals of letters from bank for my greatgrandfather and then coins and radio from that era.
This is used by my greatgrandfather for hooka.
Great grand father
Great grand mother
Grand father
This is how color pictures were printed at that time. My grandmother told me that it was really difficlut to get a picture and they painted it to get the picture coloured.
Grandparents
These are the sarees which my grandmother wore in her wedding.